Decommissioning Nuclear Power Plants: New England and Northwest Russia

U.S.-Russian People to People Online Mini-Conference

Transnational Dialog on Decommissioning Nuclear Power Plants

 

10:00 am – 12:30 pm EDT

U.S.-Russian People to People Online Conference via Zoom           

Register at: https://us06web.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_P35RJZuJSgiUVasJqpu6jQ

 

Civil society organizations from the US and Russia are co-hosting a conference to explore the environmental hazards and opportunities of decommissioning nuclear power plants.

Participants will discuss ways to improve safety during the decommissioning of nuclear power plants through greater transparency and effective interaction of stakeholders based on democratic principles that ensure everyone’s right to a clean and safe environment.

New England and Northwest Russia have a lot in common. Both regions host commercial nuclear power plants. While some are planning to extend their operational life, others have begun decommissioning or are already partially decommissioned. This process should ensure the transfer of these facilities to a state that will be environmentally safe for present and future generations.

In both countries, this process is controlled by nuclear power plant operators and regulatory authorities. However, the process is insufficiently transparent, and lacks legal procedures for the effective and informed participation of residents and regional legislators.

Our transnational dialogue is aimed at overcoming geopolitical enmity and is designed to demonstrate the benefits of civil cooperation in order to improve the environmental safety outcomes of nuclear decommissioning, something that is important not only for our own countries but for the planet we all share.

Using New England and the North-West of Russia as a model, our speakers will address how citizens and regional legislators can make the decommissioning process safer, making environmental well-being and public safety a priority. We will also examine the opportunity provided by an “autopsy” of decommissioned reactors in the context of reactors seeking lifetime extensions.

Presenters: Sarah Abramson, Oleg Bodrov, Henrietta Cosentino, Paul Gunter, Deb Katz, Nikolai Kuzmin, Andrey Talevlin. Hosted by Joseph Gerson.

Working languages: English & Russian. Simultaneous interpretation will be provided.

Co-sponsors include Beyond Nuclear, C-10 Research and Education Foundation, Campaign for Peace, Disarmament & Common Security, Citizens Awareness Network, International Peace Bureau, Massachusetts Peace Action, Public Council of the South Coast of the Gulf of Finland

Join Us!

 

CONFERENCE AGENDA

10:00 am

Welcome

Host Joseph Gerson will welcome participants with an overview of the conference and explain  the technical aspects of participating on the zoom platform, including interpretation..

 

10:10 am

Introduction
Sarah Abramson and Oleg Bodrov will provide an overview on the basics of the nuclear power plant decommissioning process, including what is stated to be available to the public for engagement in this process.

 

10:15 am

Panel 1: The known environmental hazards of decommissioning in the current experience

1. Vermont Yankee: Deb Katz.
2. Pilgrim, MA: Henrietta Cosentino
3. Leningrad NPP: Oleg Bodrov

 

10:55 am 

Panel 1 Q&A open to conference participants, led by Linda Pentz Gunter and Nathaniel Trumbull

 

11:05 am

Panel 2: Environmental hazards & opportunities provided by decommissioning

1. Reactor “autopsy”and how it can serve license renewal opposition. Paul Gunter
2. The Seabrook model for community engagement and intervention. Sarah Abramson
3. Necessary Mechanisms for the Conscious Participation of Civil Society in Nuclear Regions in the Decommissioning of Nuclear Power Plants. Nikolai Kuzmin

11:40 am

Panel 2 Q&A open to conference participants, led by Linda Pentz Gunter and Nathaniel Trumbull

11:50 am

10 minute break

 

12:00 pm

Panel 3: Opening up public engagement in the decommissioning process

1. The experience of a lack of an open process and public engagement, and how to remedy it. Russian perspective. Andrey Talevlin 
2. The experience of a lack of an open process and public engagement, and how to remedy it. USA perspective. Henrietta Cosentino

 

12:20 pm

Panel 3 Q&A open to conference participants, , led by Linda Pentz Gunter and Nathaniel Trumbull

12:30 pm

Host Joseph Gerson concludes the conference, reflecting on the message, and how attendees can stay abreast of the joint resolution that will be crafted by the conference organizers and later conveyed to policy makers. This resolution will restate that decommissioning processes must include increased public engagement, and bolster the public’s power as a key stakeholder in discussions that determine the fate of a nuclear power plant in their community.

Thank you for your interest and participation in this valuable discussion.

Presenter Background Information:

Sarah Abramson is Executive Director of C-10 Research & Education Foundation, which focuses on the public and environmental safety of the area surrounding the Seabrook Nuclear Power Plant in New Hampshire.	Deb Katz is the executive director of the Citizens Awareness Network, a grassroots group committed to creating a sustainable energy future by closing aging nuclear reactors in the Northeast.
Oleg V. Bodrov is an engineer-physicist, environmentalist and chairman of the Public Council of the South Coast of the Gulf of Finland, St. Petersburg, Russia. Oleg is one of the leaders of Russian peace, environmental protection, and nuclear safety movements.	Paul Gunter is the Director of Reactor Oversight at Beyond Nuclear. He is a lead spokesperson on nuclear reactor hazards and security concerns and serves as the regulatory watchdog over the Nuclear Regulatory Commission and nuclear power industry.
Henrietta Cosentino sits on the board of the Plymouth area League of Women Voters and the Steering Committee of SaveOurBayMa. She is a panelist on the Nuclear Decommissioning Citizens Advisory Panel.	Andrey Talevlin is a PhD in Law, Chairman of “For Nature” – a regional public movement and expert of “DecomAtom” a network promoting the safe decommissioning of nuclear power plants and the management of radioactive waste and spent nuclear fuel.
Nikolai Kuzmin is a Member of the Standing Committee on Environmental Safety and Nature Management of the Leningrad Oblast Legislative Assembly. Academician of the International Academy of Sciences of Ecology, Human Security and Nature.	Joseph Gerson is President of the Campaign for Peace, Disarmament and Common Security, a member of Massachusetts Peace Action, and former Vice-President of the International Peace Bureau.

CO-SPONSORED BY: 

Beyond Nuclear; Campaign for Peace, Disarmament and Common Security; Citizens Awareness Network; C-10 Research & Education Foundation; International Peace Bureau; Massachusetts Peace Action; Public Council of the South Coast of the Gulf of Finland

Register to attend.